Mumbai continues to be the worst affected by rising fuel prices, with petrol retailing at a staggering Rs 89.01 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.07 per litre. In Chennai, petrol prices touched fresh highs with a rise of 36 paise at Rs 84.85 per litre while diesel prices were up 25 paise to Rs 77.74 per litre.

Representational image. Reuters

In Kolkata, petrol is up 35 paise and is being retailed at Rs 83.49 per litre in Kolkata. Price of diesel was raised by 3 paise to to Rs 75.39 per litre.

A combination of a dip in rupee value against the US dollar and rise in crude oil prices has led to a spike in pump prices since mid-August. Petrol price has since risen by Rs 4.20 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.53 --- the most in any one-month period since the daily revision in fuel prices was introduced in June last year.

Rates vary from city to city and from the pump to pump depending on local taxes and transportation cost.

While crude oil rates flirted with the $80 per barrel mark, the rupee has plunged against the dollar. The combination of the two makes imports costlier.

Domestic retail prices are bench-marked to international rates of the fuel.

The Union government has been facing flak in the past few weeks for not implementing stringent measures to curb prices.

Earlier this week, the Congress Party and 21 other regional and national parties observed a 'Bharat Bandh' on account of the consistent rise in fuel prices and urged the government to take necessary steps to reduce citizens' woes. However, the Centre has maintained that external factors, including a rise in international crude oil prices, are influencing domestic fuel prices.

The Centre has refused to consider cutting excise duty to curtail the rising fuel prices. "There is no straight line movement in global crude oil prices. In April and May, there was a lot of pressure. In June, they came down. In July, they came down and in August, there is again (an upward) movement. In the last two days, there has been some moderation. For six days before that, there was again," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on 5 September.